Black-capped Kingfisher

The black-capped kingfisher is a tree kingfisher about 28cm long, with purple-blue wings and back, a black head and shoulders, a white collar and throat, rufous underparts and a large coral-red bill and legs. In flight it shows large white patches at the base of the primaries on its blue and black wings, and it flies fast and direct on whirring wings. The sexes are similar; juveniles are duller with streaks on the throat. Its call is a cackling ki-ki-ki-ki-ki (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives mainly on coasts, especially in mangroves, and along estuaries and rivers, but sometimes far inland. It perches conspicuously but is easily disturbed, and dives for fish as well as taking large insects. It nests in a tunnel in an earth bank, laying four or five round white eggs in summer. It is the most northerly of the tree kingfishers; northern populations migrate south for the winter. In India it is a winter migrant. SoIB 2023 estimates a long-term decline of about 89% and a current fall of about 6% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).